Volleyball: Top talent will be on display in Pearland

Published 11:21 am, Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Pearland's Cassidy Nussman (15) is among the top talent on area teams set to compete in the Texas Volleyball Invitational in August.

Pearland's Cassidy Nussman (15) is among the top talent on area teams set to compete in the Texas Volleyball Invitational in August.

Photo: L. Scott Hainline

Volleyball: Top talent will be on display in Pearland

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The Texas Volleyball Invitational has outdone itself. Not bad for a tournament that already was the largest in the United States.

The annual competition held on seven Pearland ISD campuses has taken a monumental step forward for the 16th installment.

Comcast will air live the championship and third-place matches from Pearland High School on Aug. 17. The tournament begins Aug. 15.

Pearland High School coach John Turner said it will be the first time since 2001 that a Texas high school volleyball match will be shown on live television.

"It's been a dream of mine to make (this tournament) the biggest in Texas, and now it's the biggest in the nation," Turner said. "To get it televised live, that's everything we could have hoped for."

Turner hosted the tournament for the first time in 1998. The field was comprised of 28 teams. In the following years the field increased to 42 then 54 then 64 and then all the way up to 84.

This year there will be 80 teams.

It's arguably the most talented field in the nation every year. This year's teams include all four from last season's Class 5A final four and two from the Class 4A final four., including champion Lucas Lovejoy.

Southlake Carroll is the No. 1 overall seed. Coppell, which won the tournament last year on its way to the Class 5A state title, is the No. 2 seed. The Woodlands likely is the Houston area's best chance to win it. The Lady Highlanders are the No. 4 seed.

Each team is placed in a four-team pool and plays three matches on the first day.

The goal is to qualify for the 32-team gold bracket, which ultimately decides the overall champion.

Last year, Clear Lake met Clear Falls in the first round of the gold bracket. Those teams later met in the Region III-5A championship match.

"We're getting the cream of the crop," Turner said. "The second day in the gold bracket it's like you're at the regional tournament."

One of the things the coaches and players like most about the tournament is the way it gets the teams to compete off the court with things like T-shirt design and videoed lip-sync contests. The winning teams often are rewarded with uniforms.

Perhaps the most important part, however, is the charitable contributions. In the early years Turner donated most of the proceeds to cancer research in honor of former Lamar University coach Katrinka Jo Crawford. Turner was an assistant for Crawford before she died from cancer.

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Tourney time

What: The Texas Volleyball Invitational has become the largest tournament in the United States.

Watch live: The championship and third-place matches will be aired on live television this year.

Charities win: The tournament has raised $65,000 for cancer charities over the years.

Turner said this year he will add the Houston Firefighters Fund to the list of charities. Barcelona Sporting Goods is the title sponsor for this year's tournament. Turner said the company will donate a large portion of its merchandise sales to charity.

In all, the tournament has raised $65,000 for charity over the years.

"We want to bring awareness to the kids about things in life other than volleyball," Turner said. "We want to make kids aware of what they can do to give back and how important is to do that."

Hosting a tournament like this is a big undertaking - one that forces Turner to begin working on next year the day after the tournament ends. This year each of the 80 teams will pay $350 apiece to enter, which adds up to $28,000. Turner said previous tournaments have brought in about $23,000 at the gate.

It is all possible he said because of fantastic support from the Pearland ISD administration and tireless work of volunteers before, during and after the tournament.

"It becomes surreal sometimes," Turner said. "It is mind-boggling that everything we've done we've gotten to this point. It just runs. It's efficient. We don't have a lot of problems. We know our responsibilities. Everybody works their tails off."